Set of seven scene stills for the film “Daleká cesta” (1949)
Extent and Medium
.1: Height: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm) | Width: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm)
.2: Height: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm) | Width: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm)
.3: Height: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm) | Width: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm)
.4: Height: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm) | Width: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm)
.5: Height: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm) | Width: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm)
.6: Height: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm) | Width: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm)
.7: Height: 9.500 inches (24.13 cm) | Width: 12.000 inches (30.48 cm)
Creator(s)
- Ceskoslovenský Státní Film (Production Company)
- Ken Sutak (Compiler)
- Ceskoslovenský Státní Film (Distributor)
Biographical History
The Cinema Judaica Collection consists of more than 1,200 objects relating to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical subjects, from 1923 to 2000, from the United States, Europe, Israel, Canada, Mexico, and Argentina. The collection was amassed by film memorabilia collector Ken Sutak, to document Holocaust-and Jewish-themed movies of the World War II era and the postwar years. The collection includes posters, lobby and photo cards, scene stills, pressbooks, trade ads, programs, magazines, books, VHS tapes, DVDS, and 78 rpm records. Sutak organized these materials into two groups, “Cinema Judaica: The War Years, 1939–1949” and “Cinema Judaica: The Epic Cycle, 1950–1972” and, in conjunction with the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion Museum (now the Dr. Bernard Heller Museum in New York), organized exhibitions on these two themes in 2007 and 2008. Sutak subsequently authored companion books with the same titles.
Archival History
The scene stills were donated to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum in 2018 by Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur.
Acquisition
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum Collection, Gift of Ken Sutak and Sherri Venokur
Scope and Content
Set of seven scene stills for the Czechoslovakian film, “Daleká cesta” (“Distant Journey”), released in Czechoslovakia in 1949. Scene stills are photographs taken on or off the set of a motion picture and are then used as marketing and advertising tools. “Daleká cesta” follows a Jewish doctor in Prague who marries a Christian colleague, but is forced to quit her hospital job after the Germans invade the region. Her parents are forced to relocate to Theresienstadt ghetto-labor camp in German-occupied Czechoslovakia. Eventually, she and her husband are sent to separate camps, and she begins working as a camp doctor in Theresienstadt. The film incorporates German propaganda and documentary newsreel footage that marks the passage of time throughout the narrative. The film received approval from the Film Censorship Bureau and premiered in communist Czechoslovakia in March 1949, but the Minister of Information severely restricted publicity and distribution for it, due largely to the director’s style of aggressive expressionism. Alfred Radok, the director, was half-Jewish, and escaped from a detention camp near the end of the war, and his father and grandfather both died in Theresienstadt. This object is one of more than 1,200 objects in the Cinema Judaica Collection of materials related to films about World War II and the Holocaust as well as Jewish, Israeli, and biblical themes.
Conditions Governing Access
No restrictions on access
Conditions Governing Reproduction
Restrictions on use. Copyright status is unknown.
Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements
.1 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph is taken from a low-angle and depicts a man in a dark coat and hood. He is standing in a wood building with open rafters and bunks partially visible on the right side. Behind him, a person is sitting on a set of steep stairs, curled over, with their eyes closed. Several other people are also partially visible in the background. The film title and credits are printed in black in the bottom margin. The top corners are torn and there are numerous pinholes throughout the margins. On the back, there are two sideways, black ink stamps in the center. Depicted: Unidentified .2 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a perspective shot inside a long, wooden structure with low rafters. At the far end of the room stands a woman in a white coat with a Star of David badge on the breast. Numerous people wrapped in white, gray, and striped lengths of lightweight cloth are sitting and laying on the floor, filling most of the available space. The film title and credits are printed in black in the bottom margin. There are several pinholes in each corner and a horizontal crease along the bottom margin. On the back, there are two black ink stamps in the center. Depicted: Blanka Waleská as Dr. Hana Kaufmanová, others unidentified .3 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a dark scene inside a building with cement walls and metal stairs. A woman with short, dark hair is sitting on the stairs, looking at a man who is standing at the foot. Projected on the wall behind them are large shadows of two people wearing brimmed hats. In the top left corner of the image is another person obscured by shadows and descending the stairs. In the bottom right corner, children are huddled together in a group. The film title and credits are printed in black in the bottom margin. There are numerous pinholes in all of the corners and margins, and a horizontal fold along the bottom margin. On the back, there is a black ink stamp in the center. Depicted: Blanka Waleská as Dr. Hana Kaufmanová, Otomar Krejca as Dr. Antonin Bures, others unidentified .4 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts two elderly women, and a man in front of a large wall. The woman on the left is wearing round glasses and a scarf covering her hair. She is grabbing the arm of the woman in the center, who has long, white hair. The woman in the center is talking to and touching the man on the right, who is wearing a black coat and brimmed hat. The film title and credits are printed in black in the bottom margin. There are numerous pinholes in the corners and margins, and a horizontal fold along the bottom margin. On the back, there are several black ink stamps and handwritten inscriptions. Depicted: Unidentified .5 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a street scene at an intersection. In the foreground are four people, each with a bucket. They are on their hands and knees, scrubbing the sidewalk. In the middle ground, three women are standing on the cross street, holding white, high-backed chairs. In the background, on the far side of the intersection, additional people are kneeling and scrubbing the sidewalk. The film title and credits are printed in black in the bottom margin. There are numerous pinholes in the corners and margins, and a horizontal fold along the bottom margin. On the back, there are two black ink stamps in the center. Depicted: unidentified .6 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts a mass of people wearing coats and hats, many carrying bags. The group is divided by a tall, arched, wooden double door, which three armed SS soldiers are struggling to close. The film title and credits are printed in black in the bottom margin. There are numerous pinholes in the corners and margins, and a horizontal fold along the bottom margin. On the back, there are two black ink stamps in the center. Depicted: Unidentified .7 Black-and-white photographic scene still with a white margin on all four sides. The photograph depicts two women with dark, curly hair, wearing black tops with Star of David badges on their chests. The woman on the right is in the foreground, and leaning forward while applying mascara. The woman on the left is looking at her, and holding an object in one raised hand. The room contains a wood door, and has sheer curtains hanging from the walls. The film title and credits are printed in black in the bottom margin. There are numerous pinholes in the corners and margins, and a horizontal fold along the bottom margin. On the back, there are two black ink stamps and a handwritten inscription in the center. Depicted: Blanka Waleská as Dr. Hana Kaufmanová, other unidentified
.1-.2, .4-.7 back, center, stamped, black ink : [appears twice] CINEMAGENCE — TOUTES PHOTOS DE FILMS [CINEMAGENCE - ALL FILMS PICTURES] .3 back, center, stamped, black ink : CINEMAGENCE — TOUTES PHOTOS DE FILMS [CINEMAGENCE - ALL FILMS PICTURES] .4 back, top left corner, handwritten, black ink : LONGUE / ROUTE [LONG / ROAD] .4 back, center, stamped, black ink : [repeated] pseudo eBay: papacinema .4 back, center, handwritten, black ink : GIFT! / Mona / Many Thanks! .7 back, center, handwritten, pencil : ALFRED RADOK 1949 / VU[?] LA LONGUE ROUTE [ALFRED RADOK 1949 / (?) THE LONG ROAD]
People
- Radok, Alfred.
- Krejča, Otomar, 1921-2009.
- Waleská, Blanka, 1910-1986.
Corporate Bodies
Subjects
- Italy.
- Terezín (Ústecký kraj, Czech Republic)
- Foreign language films.
- History in motion pictures.
- Czechoslovakia.
- Holocaust survivors in motion pictures.
- Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945), in motion pictures.
- Jewish women in motion pictures.
- Imprisonment in motion pictures.
Genre
- Film stills.
- Photographs
- Object